To be surprised about the amount of nepotism in Journalism

[AndromedaPerseus]

Today I read an article in the Sunday Times by Emily Clarkson (Jeremy’s dd who has also written for ST in the past) urging kids not to worry if you don’t get your Alevels to go to university. Obviously when you’re the dd of a multimillionaire with huge amount of connections then you needn’t be too concerned

Then there is a new ST columnist Flora Gill who just happen to be the dd of AA Gill and Amber Rudd. Just for the record Flora seems to have replace Scarlet Curtis who had a regular ST column for the past year and she happens to be the dd of Richard Curtis and Emma Freud.

Having read their musings Flora is the best of the bunch but not outstanding whereas Emily’s writing is the standard of a grade B GCSE student and I had no idea what Scarlet was talking about most of the time.

AIBU to think the upper echelons of journalism is still a career only opened to the well connected and not necessary the most talented

Ha! No am not, and never was, Jude Law's nanny.

@AndromedaPerseus the Times and the Sunday times are actually very independent papers. It seems weird since they share the same name. But editorially they are run in very different ways. There is no overlapping in staff etc.

Is is one thing to acknowledge that nepotism/class privilege happens. It is another to be in the position of an obvious beneficiary and write an article pretending it isn't happening & that your position is purely down to a choice any reader could make. How about getting somebody without connections to write that article, explaining how they did it and giving hints on how to get round lack of privilege? Now that would be a really useful article for people with career dreams and a far more interesting one for the general reader.

Is is one thing to acknowledge that nepotism/class privilege happens. It is another to be in the position of an obvious beneficiary and write an article pretending it isn't happening & that your position is purely down to a choice any reader could make.

Absolutely! That was the most galling thing about the article by Jeremy Clarkson's daughter in yesterday's Sunday Times magazine. And the thing that really got me was where she cited the example of a 19 year old who was the only girl in her school to gain a place at Cambridge, and who had just finished her first year studying engineering. Clarkson questions the fact that this girl had taken the place whilst not actually being sure that she wanted to do the course, but had taken it on the basis that she wanted to proved to herself and anyone who reads her CV that she had completed the course to a high-standard. Clarkson asks: "isn't she just indulging in an expensive point-proving exercise?"

So here we have an entitled young woman - who has got where she is entirely not on merit but thanks to her parents clout - having the gall to question the actions of another young woman from a far from privileged background, who is making her way in the world on her own two feet with personal integrity and ambition.

You couldn't make it up!

Clarksons apple not far from the tree

The Sunday Times has scored an own goal as Emily Clarkson and Scarlet Curtis lack journalistic ability and their writing isn’t interesting to read. For a prestigious paper why do that to yourself and also be accused of nepotism

They'll get by. If they cant write then an intern will do it. Worked well for Tara Palmer Tompkinson.